§ 28. Mr. Rhys Daviesasked the Home Secretary whether, in considering the granting of licences to charitable collecting societies, he will bear in mind the evidence produced before the Select Committee against the Excelsior Philanthropic Society?
§ Sir J. AndersonYes, Sir. This case was most carefully considered by the Advisory Committee appointed under the House-to-House Collections Act. The Advisory Committee considered not only the evidence given by the Charity Organisation Society before the Select Committee, but also the reply given by the Excelsior Society and further observations on that reply furnished by the Charity Organisation Society. They also interviewed the applicant and examined him carefully on his methods and accounts. After weighing all the information, the Advisory Committee recommended that the applicant should be authorised to continue his collections and that the case should be reviewed in a year's time. I can find no grounds for dissenting from the conclusion at which the committee arrived, after a painstaking investigation.
§ Mr. DaviesDoes that mean that the right hon. Gentleman is handing a licence to this society, notwithstanding that the evidence submitted against it was to the effect that of every £1 collected towards charity only 3½d. was given to charity?
§ Mr. R. C. MorrisonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that a Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament 2240 spent two whole Sessions in examining the records and balance-sheets and the. method of conduct of this one-man organisation, and that the Committee was unanimously of the opinion that the revelations put before it were entirely unsatisfactory; and does the right hon. Gentleman not think that further action is necessary before this gentleman is given a Government licence to continue his work?
§ Sir J. AndersonAs I have explained, the committee appointed for the purposes of the House-to-House Collection Act had before it not only all the evidence which was furnished to the Select Committee by the Charity Organisation Society, but statements which the Select Committee had not the advantage of hearing, on behalf of the organisation in question. They also had the comments of the Charity Organisation Society on those statements. With regard to the proportion of the collections made available to charity, I understand that the Advisory Committee came to a conclusion different from that of the Select Committee, in as much as they considered that the net value and not the gross value of the weight of material collected provided a better basis of computation. I suggest that it would stultify the procedure established under the House-to-House Collections Act if the recommendations of the Advisory Committee were put on one side after there had been the most careful investigation.
§ Mr. Rhys DaviesCan the right hon. Gentleman tell me, for my own personal information—